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The DIY Will Kit from Legal Kits of Australia is your key to making your own Will. It will help you:

• Understand your Will much better 
• Recognise things that could affect your Will in future 
• Know what information you should store to help your Executor look after things for you.

Do you NEED a Will?

You often hear people say "you must make a Will" - it's one of those things that "everybody knows". But why make a Will?

There are two basic reasons:

• To give you a say in what happens to your goodies.
  When you die you leave a lot of possessions behind, and they would hang around like orphans forever if no-one took care of them.
  If you want a say about who gets them, and who organises it all for you, you have to leave instructions, and that's where your Will comes in - that's where you spell out who will get your goodies, and who will control it all for you.
   
• The second reason is about what happens if you don't make a Will. Your goodies then get distributed according to a formula in an Act of Parliament.
  The formula might suit you or it might not.
  For instance, your spouse might be entitled to a certain amount, and your children to the rest (which could cause real problems for your spouse, because in Victoria the formula is seriously out of kilter with estate values).

Making your own Will

Unless you are into fancy tricks to lock your assets away from your children (or the tax man), you don't need to pay a lawyer to reinvent the wheel. You can do what most lawyers themselves do - start with a standard template and plug your details into it. Our Will Kit gives you the template and explains how to use it, in only 6 simple steps:

• Identify yourself as the Willmaker
• Revoke any former Wills
• Choose your Executor (you get the benefit of our Probate experience here, because we have seen plenty of lawyer-drafted Wills that caused unnecessary problems for people)
• Deal with Debts
• Say who gets what
• Sign it. (Here too you get the benefit of our Probate experience - we give you tips to help avoid inconvenience for your Executor).

Blank Templates

The Will Kit is a printed book that includes blank templates (forms). There are three types:

• TWO COPIES of the form that should suit most people, which means you and a partner can both make a Will with one Kit - double the savings!!
• A SINGLE PAGE Will template for people who are able to keep it simple (and many can)
• TWO COPIES of an "OPEN FORMAT" template that makes it easier to align words using a computer printer. (But this template is still a printed form).

We don't include a fistful of forms to keep you going forever, because we think it's a silly idea - you could find yourself using forms based on laws that have since been changed. Getting an up-to-date Will Kit when you need it makes more sense.

Your Information Storehouse

To do the job right for you, your executor needs certain information, and to help you assemble that information for them we include in the Will Kit a list of the information your executor will find useful.

Store it

Having made your Will, you store it where your family or executor will find it. Some people put it in a bank safety deposit, although that is an expensive option since Australian banks moved into gold mining (digging for gold in their customers' pockets).

Alternatively, you might be able to store your Will at the Probate Office for a "one-off" fee.

Most people seem to store their Will amongst their personal papers and hope it gets found (and it usually does).

Will Kit Cost

For only $33.00 plus postage you get a Will Kit that allows two partners to both make a Will and even better - to understand it.

Get "The Real Thing"

Since we first created the Australian Will Kit in the 1980's many "copycat" products have appeared on the market. Some of them even use our "Legal Kits" name in an apparent attempt to pass off their product as ours. We recommend (of course) that you don't settle for less than "the real thing"  - the genuine Will Kits of Australia kit with the A4 size gold and white cover.

Willmaking Questions & Answers

Is it legal?

Sometimes people ask "Is it legal?" and the answer is "Yes". If you want to read our comments about that question they are here - comments.

Willmaking Hints

Some general willmaking hints for you.

Who may see a Will in VICTORIA?

Section 50 of the (Victorian) Wills Act gives these people the RIGHT to see a Will.

"A person who has possession and control of a will, a revoked will or a purported will of a deceased person must allow the following persons to inspect and make copies of the will (at their own expense)-
(a) any person named or referred to in the will, whether as beneficiary or not;
(b) any person named or referred to in any earlier will as a beneficiary;
(c) any spouse of the testator at the date of the testator's death;
(d) any domestic partner of the testator;
(e) any parent, guardian or children of the deceased person;
(f) any person who would be entitled to a share of the estate if the deceased person had died intestate;
(g) any parent or guardian of a minor referred to in the will or who would be entitled to a share of the estate of the testator if the testator had died intestate;
(h) any creditor or other person who has a claim at law or in equity against the estate of the deceased person and who produces evidence of that claim."

We sometimes hear of solicitors refusing to let family members see a Will. The first step in persuading them that you have a RIGHT to see the Will is to wave section 50 of the Wills Act in front of them. If you want to download a printable version version of section 50, click on the link below.

Download section 50 of the Wills Act (PDF format)

The effect of divorce on Will

If you are in a "blended family" there are additional factors for you to consider to try and avoid having your Will challenged by unhappy family or former family members. This was discussed in an ABC Radio interview some years back. We include here our summary of the radio interview.

SEEKING ADVICE:
Please note that this website is not a legal advice site, and cannot respond to requests for advice about things like the rights and obligations of executors, beneficiaries, estranged spouses etc.
We ask you not to seek advice via this website.

17 November 2008